


Showdown at the Blackwatch Cafe

by notkingyet



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Coffeeshop AU, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-22
Updated: 2017-06-22
Packaged: 2018-11-17 12:56:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11275725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notkingyet/pseuds/notkingyet
Summary: McCree meets Genji's brother.





	Showdown at the Blackwatch Cafe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AndrogynyZombie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndrogynyZombie/gifts).



> Thanks to [La_Temperanza](http://archiveofourown.org/users/La_Temperanza/pseuds/La_Temperanza) for the guide [How to Make Linked Footnotes on AO3](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4579026/chapters/10429149).

It was a morning just like any other at the Blackwatch Cafe. McCree arrived at four in the morning to open for five with his robot-bodied coworker, Genji. At a minute to five, there was already a line down the block. McCree tied the strings of his barista apron and braced himself for the rush as Genji unlocked the door.

Genji glanced over his shoulder at McCree.

“Honki o misete miro,” he said, and unlocked the door.[1]

The bell over the door came alive with rapid-fire jangling as the usual suspects burst in. Lattes for most, including the Brazilian DJ. Green tea latte for the nurse on her way to her shift at the VA hospital. Mocha for the gorilla from the moon. The Russian strongwoman tipped her flask into her triple-shot. The Australian hobos always paid for their flat whites in sockfuls of pennies.

And then, silence.

It was the same every morning. A constant stream from opening until about eight, and then bursts of customers at half-hour intervals for most of the rest of the day.

So at five past eight, McCree usually occupied himself with restocking the pastry case, cleaning the steam wand, sweeping the floor, and polishing his belt buckle. Genji, meanwhile, headed to the stockroom for more half’n’half and beans.

“Think any of these taps still work?” McCree called after him. “I’m feelin’ an almighty thirst.”

“Waga tamashī wa mada moete oru,” Genji replied without looking back.[2]

The bell jingled over the door.

McCree looked up from polishing his belt buckle.

“Howdy--” he began, then stopped dead as he locked eyes with a samurai.

The samurai, who wore a cutoff jacket made entirely of pouches and tied his long black hair up in an undercut-revealing manbun, raised one perfectly-sculpted eyebrow, as if to wordlessly ask why McCree was polishing his belt buckle when his apron covered it.

McCree opened his mouth to suggest the samurai should save a horse by riding a cowboy. What actually came out was, “I’m your Huckleberry.”

The samurai’s left eyebrow rose to meet his right. “I greet you. Hanzo, at your service.”

Hanzo. McCree couldn’t wait to scribble the name onto a disposable cup. He tore his eyes away from the intricate dragon tattoo on Hanzo’s well-muscled arms and asked, “What brings y’all to the Blackwatch Cafe?”

“The dragon hungers,” said Hanzo. “My wanderings brought me to this place.”

McCree waited for him to elaborate on his order. As the silent moments passed, he realized he’d have to do more to pry it out of him. “So... cappuccino?”

Hanzo snorted. “How predictable! Such unsophisticated taste.”

“Yeah, I wouldn't drink the coffee. Always tasted like boiled dirt.” McCree would’ve gone on to elaborate on the rest of the Blackwatch Cafe menu, but Hanzo’s gaze had wandered off to the pastry case. Genji had restocked it since the morning rush, which meant there were plenty of blueberry scones, almond croissants, cinnamon rolls, and a strawberry cheesecake pre-sliced into sixteen individual portions with wax paper in between.

“Any chocolates today, brother?”

McCree jumped and whirled towards the question to find Genji had re-emerged from the stockroom. His robot-bodied coworker’s robot face didn’t express much, but if McCree didn’t know better, he’d say that metal mask had become a sneer.

Hanzo looked up from the pastry case with an unmistakeable scowl. “Those were your amusements, not mine.”

McCree glanced between them. “Y’all’re kin?”

But both robot and samurai ignored him.

“You may call yourself my brother,” Hanzo declared, “but you are not the Genji I knew.”

Genji sighed--which was weird, because as far as McCree knew, his robot body didn’t have lungs--and crossed his arms. “Mi o sutete mo, myōri wa sutezu. Are you going to order something or are you just here to bother me?”[3]

Hanzo’s gaze slid over to the pastry case once more. “The cake.”

“One slice of strawberry cheesecake, comin’ up!” McCree snatched up a slice of butcher paper and opened the pastry case.

“No,” said Hanzo.

McCree paused with his arm in the pastry case. “Pardon, pard’ner?”

There was a hollow metallic thud behind him. McCree knew the sound well. It occurred whenever Genji facepalmed.

Hanzo narrowed his eyes. “Not one slice. The whole cake.”

McCree blinked. “The whole...?”

“Why are you like this?” Genji asked, his voice muffled by both metal hands over his metal faceplate.

“Why are you a robot?” Hanzo shot back.

“You done?” said McCree. Someone had to break the ice.

Hanzo stared at him.

“It’s fifty-nine ninety-five for the whole cake.” McCree pulled the cake out from the pastry case, set it on the counter, and started punching the code into the register. “Anything else?”

Hanzo’s stare became a glare. “I would have your name.”

“The name's McCree. Y’c’n have that one free o’ charge.”

Another moment of silent staring passed. Then Hanzo wordlessly whipped out his wallet and handed over a plain black credit card.

“Much obliged,” said McCree as he swiped it. He completed the transaction and flipped the card back to Hanzo. “Next round’s on me.”

Once again, Hanzo raised one perfect eyebrow.

“You can leave now,” said Genji, coming forward with the cake already boxed.

In the space of a blink, the cake disappeared from Genji’s metal hands and reappeared in Hanzo’s dragon-tattooed arms.

“Together,” Hanzo proclaimed, “we could’ve built an empire.”

“That was your dream,” Genji replied. “Not mine.”

“You will never amount to anything!” Hanzo growled.

Genji’s smooth robotic face remained impassive. “We shall see, brother.”

Hanzo held his glare on Genji, then turned to McCree. “Remember this moment.”

McCree grinned. “I surely intend to.”

Hanzo’s gaze swept him up and down. Then he turned on his heel and departed the cafe.

“So!” said McCree after he’d watched Hanzo walk off around the corner. “That’s your brother, huh?”

Genji muttered something under his breath in Japanese and moved to return to the storeroom.

McCree blocked his path. “What’s his problem? Family troubles?”

Genji gave McCree an impassive, robotic stare. “Did I ever tell you how I came to be in this form?”

McCree shrugged.

Genji lifted his chin. “My brother and I belong to the Shimada Clan. We were both expected to follow in our father’s footsteps. But I found another calling. I knew it was my destiny to become a barista. My father didn’t take the news well. My brother took it worse. My first barista job, he came to the counter and ordered a dry, no-foam latte.”

McCree winced.

Genji nodded. “Precisely. As I tried to explain to him the impossibility of his order, he grew enraged and stabbed the espresso machine. It exploded. Scalding-hot steam tore the flesh from my bones. When I woke up, I was in the body you see before you. And I was more determined than ever to become the greatest barista the world has ever seen.”

McCree figured the steam wand attachments on Genji’s robot arms probably went a long way towards helping him achieve that goal.

“Does that answer satisfy you?” asked Genji.

“Almost,” said McCree. “Just one more question.”

“Yes?”

“Is your brother single?”

Genji stared at him blankly for a moment, then slipped past him into the stockroom without another word.

McCree turned back to the street, hoping to catch another glimpse of Hanzo, just in time to see Zarya suplex a park bench.

**Author's Note:**

> 1"Show me what you can really do."[return to text]  
> 2"My soul still burns."[return to text]  
> 3"Even if I sacrifice my body, I will never sacrifice my honor."[return to text]


End file.
